Kyriakos Papadopoulos is believed to be a summer target for Liverpool(Reuters)

Liverpool have stepped up their interest in Schalke defender with the player available on a free in the summer, writes the Daily Mirror.

The Reds have been a huge fan of the player and have been following his progress over the past couple of years. The player has been on loan at Bayer Leverkusen but has failed to get into the starting line up on a regular basis, with injuries seriously affecting his development.

Brendan Rodgers' side have been extremely feeble at the back this season, conceding goals for fun, which has led them to trailing the pack for a top four place, having made it to the Champions League last season, while narrowly missing out on the title.

The likes of Kolo Toure and Dejan Lovren have flattered to deceive, with the former Southampton man having fallen completely out of favour with the Irishman and was left on the bench in their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal.

Toure, nearing his mid 30s, is too slow for the pace of the Premier League and has been found wanting for pace amidst forwards in the league.

Papadopoulos, currently 23, has a lot of space to develop and would be a good addition to the squad which needs a massive push in the summer. He has no ambitions of signing a new contract with the German club and his advisers have got in touch with Liverpool for a possible move in the summer.

Meanwhile, Rodgers has revealed that he is in talks with the management to define Liverpool's transfer policy for the summer, which needs to be seriously looked at after a series of substandard investments in the last transfer window.

"How they work has brought them success in their many businesses. They are not about to rip up the plan.

"They will continue to support the work they believe in which is wanting to get young players in who can be developed.

"If there's a possibility of a senior player who can help the team and the value is right and that availability and affordability is there for them then I'm sure they will look at it," the manager said.